Last weekend, I landed on the harebrained scheme to make a rando bag decaleur for my Moulton. I had the bag sitting there on the Moulton’s front rack. It was strapped on with the two side straps and such but needed a third point of attachment. A strap on the back of the bag could have been done, but it would have been awkward attaching it and the two rear pockets would get smashed up against the back of the rack. I was stuck with the idea that a decaleur would be best, but there is no obvious way to attach one to the Moulton. But there is a center mounted boss on the headtube where the front rack mounts. I figured I should be able to mount something to that.In these situations, my mind generally starts wandering to kitchen utensils. There are a lot of stainless things and plenty of shapes and sizes. So, I rode off to the Salvation Army to survey their product line. Our neighborhood Salvation Army recently underwent a facelift. With a little clever reorganization, they were able to squeeze about 40% more product into the same space. They also tidied things up a bit, which usually corresponds to an elevation in prices. When it comes to junk stores, it seems there’s a direct correlation between dust and disorganization and finding treasure. In other words, clean and organized usually equals picked-over and pricey. I walked through the door and straight to the kitchen utensils aisle. I’m blocked briefly as a brother and sister, maybe 5 and 7 respectively, settle a dispute over a tattered Shrek stuffed doll. Or maybe it was the Hulk. In less than a minute I spy this grilling multi-tool. It was a the long, tong-style set up with a spatula on one side (that includes a bottle opener!) and the more petite claw-like flat piece on the other side. The width of the smaller claw was pretty much a perfect fit for the space between the two back pockets on the Ironweed Orpington randorrific front bag. Once I get it back to the workshop, I throw on some music and go to work on this thing with the hacksaw. First, I cut off the serrated end from the non-spatula side of this impressive multi-tool. Then a little more cutting, filing, drilling and bending. Now I needed something to work as a receiver for the 5mm posts on the decaleur bag mount. I have several of these aluminum stand-off spacers; I can’t remember where they came from but they are perfect as the receiver for the decaleur. I tapped them to ¼”-28 because I had a couple of stainless bolts in that size lying around and fastened them to the newly fabricated piece. I bolted the homemade decaleur to the front rack boss and it all came together like a herd of sheep. Check out the pictures. It’s a little weird and kind of ugly, but it functions just fine. It’s on my to-do list to make a few bags for the old Moulton “F” frame bikes. It’s not on the top of my list, but it's on my list. Until that happens, I can use this contraption and it’ll work just fine.

One end of a grilling multi-tool fashioned into a decaleur.

The 5mm stand-off spacer work perfectly as the receiver for the posts.

Back in December I purchased a 1965 Moulton "F" frame. I bought it from a women in Houston just a week before the passing of Alex Moulton. I began my search for the Moulton back in the late summer and finally found one that seemed to have potential. My particular Moulton was imported by Huffy back in the 60s. Apparently, one of the distinguished features of the Huffy imported bikes is the detachable real carrier. From what I understand this feature came on the Stowaway model. The Stowaway could be broken down into two pieces and generally came as a single speed. My Moulton has a 4 speed Sturmey hub and came with a front carrier, which, despite crappy paint, was very true. While I was in the market, I noticed several Moultons with front racks that looked like divining rods pointing straight into the dirt. I'm sure this was the function of an enthusiastic child attempting to hitch a ride. So finding one with a decent front rack was a plus for me. The one thing about the front carrier that you notice straight away is that it doesn’t track the front wheel. That’s because it is attached to the frame, not the fork. It does take a bit of getting used. You have to pay attention when maneuvering the front end through close quarters. Anyway, I bought this thing sight-unseen and the seller didn’t know much about the bike but she assured me it was totally rideable and all there. All I had were pictures, a promise, and a reasonable price so I went for it. Thankfully, it was the right choice. Below are some before and after pictures. I really just cleaned, greased, and tuned. The frame and fenders are straight and the paint is about a 7.5-8. It rides really well. This was the first time I’ve ever ridden a bike with a Sturmey 4 speed and I am pleasantly surprised at the range and how well it shifted. I’m not sure why the 4 speed didn’t become more pervasive. I stopped by a neighbor's place yesterday. He has a 1965 Moulton SpeedSix hanging up in his garage. He jumped on my Moulton and took it out for a spin. As I was leaving he was talking about getting his out of the rafters and ready to ride.

Here is the picture sent to me by the seller... a little rough but I could see its potential!

Worked on the the 1965 Moulton”F” frame yesterday. I think I mentioned this in my previous post, but everything on this bike was made in England. I do not have pictures of the final product. It was dark by the time I took it out for its maiden voyage. The verdict is not in yet, but the early indicators point toward big fun on small wheels. Speaking of gratuitous pics of sweet bikes donning Ironweed bags, check out this 1959 Schwinn Tiger. Interestingly, I think of the Schwinn as the quintessential American product. However, unlike the Moulton which is 100% British, if you look close, even the 1959 Schwinns had stuff that was not made in the USA. There are at least two components on this Tiger that were rebadged as “Schwinn Approved” but came from elsewhere. Can you identify the components and their country of origin? In other news of the week, the nice people at BicycleSPACE in our nation’s capital did a very nice review of our panniers. Thanks for the kind words!

While looking for GB brakes for my Moulton I came upon this eBay listing for a 1939 Raleigh Roadster. The price is a little steep, but if you’re into vintage bicycles it’s worth a gander. I should note that I have no connection to this auction. By the way, if anyone has a set of GB Coureur sidepull brakes they are willing to part with, please send me an email. In other news, we are sending out a shipment of Ironweeds to Harris Cyclery tomorrow. We are thrilled to welcome one of the most renowned and respected bike shops around as one of our retailers!

The world lost a great bicycle designer, innovator and inventor this past weekend. Dr. Alex Moulton died Sunday at the age of 92. Not to make this about me, but I've been on the hunt for an old "F" frame Moulton for the past few months. The Sunday previous to his passing I found one. I am very much looking forward to restoring it. We're even considering a run of bags to fit the Moulton racks.